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In their slightly glib mastery of pop-song forms, and their apparent belief that great pop music can be forged through sheer force of will, Cut Off Your Hands sometimes recall Bloc Party. The difference, thankfully, is that Nick Johnston seems far more appraochable and grounded.
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Bernard Butler, hipster rock's Jerry Bruckheimer, produced this impressive debut, a tsunami of galloping rhythms, lightning-charged guitar lines, and choruses that immediately infect your brain.
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You and I's stranger moments reveal that Cut Off Your Hands have more personality than the album's more tasteful songs suggest.
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Fans of the Editors will certainly dig the dour pop 'Expectations,' while the album’s optimistic anthemic opener, 'Happy As Can Be,' offers the record’s most memorable moments.
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Glowing tunes about romance and childhood memories abound on You and I, a hopped-up album of caffeinated power pop that is spiked with a lot of youthful kvetching.
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Under The RadarThrough it’s lean 39-minute run time, You & I holds strong to a keen sense of melody. [Winter 2009]
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Unfortunately, the bad tracks merely remind us that for all Cut Your Hands Off’s brazen energy, towering sound, and melodious verse-chorus one-two punch attack, it’s the subject of the songs that ultimately bores. Which is a shame, because most of the time, these guys get everything else so damn right.
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Overall, I find it difficult to actively dislike Cut Off Your Hands because they steal from the best. Perhaps on their next release they won’t wear their influences so prominently on their sleeves.
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You can’t fault the band’s energy or enthusiasm, but You and I doesn’t bring enough of its own ideas to the table to make it essential listening.